title: Lack of relationship between acoustic startle and cognitive variables in schizophrenia and control subjects.
abstract: Measures of acoustic startle such as prepulse inhibition (PPI) and startle latency have been found to be impaired in schizophrenia, and are commonly thought to be related to cognitive deficits in this disease. However, findings about the relationship between startle variables and cognitive performance have been equivocal. In this study, we examined correlations between startle measures (baseline startle magnitude, latency, habituation and PPI) and cognitive performance (using the Benton Visual Retention Test, Conner's Continuous Performance Test, California Verbal Learning Test, Finger Tapping Test, and Wisconsin Card Sort Test) in 107 schizophrenia patients and 94 healthy controls. Overall, there was a lack of any significant relationship between these constructs in both populations when correcting for multiple comparisons. This suggests that alterations in startle measures seen in schizophrenia may not reflect elements of information processing that cause cognitive deficits in the disease.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Service, Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Decatur, GA 30033, USA. wendy.hasenkamp@va.gov
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hasenkamp
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Egan
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Lisette
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wilcox
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Boshoven
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lewison
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Duncan
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D013997:Time Factors